Pearson: The Unlikely Gladiator

Lester B. Pearson was Canada’s most successful diplomat, but as prime minister he was both controversial and paradoxical. The Pearson years were full of action and originality; Pearson had a strong team with bold, fresh ideas and their achievement was staggering. But there was also corruption in government, bitterness in Parliament, and turmoil on the home and diplomatic fronts. It was a period of both national accomplishment and national malaise, of a colourful new national flag and Charles de Gaulle’s famous cry Vive le Quebec libre! .